Fast and trouble-free removal of pet waste from various surfaces lawns is a traditional and confounding problem for owners of dogs, horses, and many other large pets. For many years, since pets have been confined to fenced yards or large outside penned areas, pet owners have had the need for a tool to aid in keeping these areas clean and sanitary, by removing pet waste from moderate to deep grass and other outside surfaces on a regular basis. Often times pet owners will resort to picking up the waste by hand, or hiring expensive outside services to do so. Numerous devices have been conceived with the goal of removing pet waste from yards, large pens and other surfaces, however most of those have either not been effective, were poorly constructed, difficult to use or never proved to be successful in reaching the marketplace.
Despite the various attempts to provide pet owners with solutions, the tools and devices marketed today fall short in solving most of the problems that pet owners are looking to remedy. Problems like; constant bending over to collect the feces, having a tool with two parts requiring both hands to remove the deposits, having to empty the tool with each pickup, or the device can't get through long or thick grass to remove the feces. Other tools are constructed with very poor or weak materials, or have spring loaded or other moving parts, which tend to break and render the tool useless. Such devices include those listed below.
US PGPUB No. 2012/0080894 by Williamson discloses The Doggie Scoop, included with a disposable plastic bag, is a device for the efficient and sanitary collection and disposal of canine fecal matter (dog poop). Before using the Doggie Scoop, insert a disposable plastic bag into Scoop, then, when a dog gets ready to poop, slide the lock on the handle of the Scoop forward with your thumb to open the Scoop (which will be opened horizontally), then slide the extension of the Scoop under the dog to catch the poop. The extension of the Scoop should lie flat against the ground since dogs usually squat close to the ground when they poop. The wheels on the Doggie Scoop help in sliding the Scoop under the dog, and since the wheels can rotate 360 degrees, the Scoop can be moved in any direction to accommodate any movement of the dog. When the dog is finished, slide the Scoop out from under the dog, squeeze the handle on the Scoop to close the Scoop, and with your thumb, slide the lock on the handle of the Scoop backward to lock the Scoop and keep it closed. The poop that collects on the extension will now drop into the storage box. Grasp the pull cords on the enclosed plastic bag to remove the bag with its contents, then dispose of the plastic bag in a garbage can. The Doggie Scoop enables a person to collect the dog poop before it touches the ground and to dispose of the poop in a sanitary manner without having to bend down to pick up the poop or to touch the stuff.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,332,732 by Stoccardo discloses a hands-free method for handling animal waste entails securing a support structure to an animal, preferably a dog. The support structure includes a first latching mechanism which is used to secure a disposable waste receptacle. The disposable waste receptacle is handled via a manipulating tool and corresponding second latching mechanism, with the manipulating tool being operated by means of a user interface. The manipulating tool is used to couple the disposable waste receptacle to the first latching mechanism. After the disposable waste receptacle accumulates excrement, the manipulating tool is used to decouple the disposable waste receptacle from the support structure and discard the disposable waste receptacle in a separate trash receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,693,533 by Taylor et al, discloses a scooping pan having a rear dumping feature that can be configured to scoop up general refuse, pet refuse, urine clumps, etc. from the ground, a litter box, etc. The scooping pan can optionally include one or more openings or slots that enable litter to pass through the openings or slots when the pet refuse, urine clumps, etc. are removed from the litter box. The rear of the scooping pan includes an openable flap that enables the general refuse, pet refuse, urine clumps, etc. in the scooping pan to be dumped out of the rear of the scooping pan.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,850,632, by Hays discloses, a tool for removing and holding dog excrement from both grass, and other non-grass surfaces, comprised of a pole handle at the upper portion and a set of beveled tines and collection pan on the lower end. The handle is connected at the rear of the collection pan at a an angle which aids in placement of the fork in the best possible position for leverage and moving smoothly beneath the feces. The separated beveled tines allow easy penetration of grass or debris beneath the feces, which is moved over the beveled tines and into the collection pan with a slight tip of the fork. The collection pan is formed with raised front, back and sidewalls, which recess the collection pan to hold the gathered feces. The collection pan is capable of containing considerable feces prior to being emptied into an appropriate trash receptacle.
In addition, many other devices merely make feces pickup more sanitary, rather than increasing the speed at which such tasks & chores can be carried out. Therefore, there is a significant need for a device that solves the problems of both speed and sanitation.
These problems, and others, have been addressed by the grass comb disclosed herein and discussed in greater detail below.